Troopers recover stolen merchandise, fraudulent checks

A probable cause search revealed construction equipment and building supplies, worth an estimated $8,150, along with receipts and fraudulent blank checks, shown below. (Photo Source: The Ohio State Highway Patrol)

WARREN, OH (Toledo News Now) – A Pennsylvania man is facing felony charges after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers uncovered a large amount of construction and building supplies purchased with fraudulent checks, following a traffic stop in Trumbull County.

Troopers stopped a rented 2009 Ford U-Haul truck for a failure to signal a lane change violation on Interstate 80 near milepost 234 at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Criminal indicators were observed and a Patrol drug-sniffing canine alerted to the vehicle.

A probable cause search revealed construction equipment and building supplies, worth an estimated $8,150, along with receipts and fraudulent blank checks.

The driver, Ephraim E. Barr, 41, of Philadelphia, PA, was incarcerated in the Trumbull County Jail. Barr is charged with receiving stolen property and passing bad checks, which are both fourth-degree felonies, plus possession of criminal tools, which is a fifth-degree felony.

If convicted, Barr could face up to four years in prison and up to a $12,500 fine.

The investigation is still ongoing and store owners who believe they may have been a victim are urged to call Warren District investigators at 330-898-0403.

Here in the city that's home to "University-6," as the University of Louisville is identified in a federal criminal complaint filed by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the feeling of devastation is exceeded only by anger and disbelief.

Here in the city that's home to "University-6," as the University of Louisville is identified in a federal criminal complaint filed by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the feeling of devastation is exceeded only by anger and disbelief.